Schoeman in charge on scenic race
GAUTENG’S Thando Zothe and Port Elizabeth’s Anriette Schoeman took the men’s and women’s honours in the gruelling Tour the Eastern Cape road cycle race from Butterworth to East London at the weekend.
Zothe, of team Randwater Transnet, nabbed the first place in two hours, 45 minutes and 11 seconds, while Thulasizwe Mxenge came second and Luthando Kaka third.
Schoeman ended in 3:01:49 as the first woman, with Cindy Schwults second and Siska van der Bijl third.
The women started the 104km cycle race with the men in the open licensed group, on a sunny and windless morning in Butterworth.
The route – through the Kei Cuttings and over the Kei River Pass to East London – is scenic but tough. Africa Silks Bestmed’s Schoeman, Van der Bijl (Afrimat) and Schwulst (Motion) were the only women who were able to stay with the leaders.
Randwater’s Zothe, Mxenge and Kaka mounted a strong attack on a steep climb 12km outside Butterworth – and the leading bunch were then split up into two groups.
Schoeman and Schwulst stayed with the chasers, while Van der Bijl lost contact with them.
The chasing group worked hard to close the time gap – at one stage it was only 20 seconds – but it then steadily opened up.
With 60km to go, it was clear that the Randwater Transnet team could not be caught.
Earlier, there was a huge battle as Schwults put pressure on Schoeman and she nearly raced away in a break with 86km to go.
The two cycled shoulder to shoulder up the Kei River Pass, leaving some of the men behind.
This notorious 10km climb also caused the breakaway group to split up, with Randwater Transnet taking the lead.
On the Kei Pass summit, Schwults lost contact with Schoeman.